[Cryptography] Leo Marks' 1998 talk about WW2 SOE code-making and breaking

[Kent Borg]

On 1/21/26 9:14 AM, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:

> I don't recall OTPs being used by the SOE—the problem of keying material
> distribution was too great. Instead, they used worked-out keys which were
> destroyed after each use.
In the talk he made it sound like OTP became a real thing, but he also 
still seemed exasperated, decades later, at how hard it was to deal with 
the companies who produced the printed silk the SOE agents needed. (I 
bet they kept violating the clearly silly one-time aspect.) The WOK was 
much more frugal with key material, possibly OTP was always more his 
goal than ever a working reality. After all, the title of the book, 
/Between Silk and Cyanide/, is the tension between the value of silk vs 
the value of the SOE agent's life.


> I've been traveling so I haven't had a chance to watch the talk yet,

Amazing how much he fit into 20-something minutes.


> but the book is very much worth reading.

My copy is on the way.


Thanks,

-kb


Off topic: Very inexpensive book, a "Good" condition, used copy, under 
$5, delivered. I personally love the bargain from Abe Books, but it is 
sickening that used books have to struggle to be worth more as reading 
material than as pulp. The bookstores selling through Abe are on a 
mission more than in a business. No, not everything is online. And no, 
the internet is not "forever" for the stuff that is.
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